djmik21 wrote:Hey guys which type do you prefer?Also i'd like to know what is the difference between the nforce 650, 680,680i and the 7xx?

nForce 650i is an entry-level version of the 680i. It has SLI support, but not for full-blown x16/x16 (usually x16/x4 or x8/x8). It also loses a few other features that I don't immediately recall offhand. By its nature its cheaper then a 680i, so its a good way of getting SLI support (if you really, really want it) if you don't have alot of money.

nForce 680i is an 'enthusiast' board, meaning it has lots of features and is very expensive. Supports full x16/x16 SLI.

nForce 680i LT was a not very popular lower priced 680i board. It was almost like a 650i except it had the full SLI capability.

nForce 7xx is Nvidia's newest chipset thats coming out. The biggest difference between it and the 6xx series is that 7xx actually supports Intel's 45nm CPUs and it also supports DDR3 memory.

from what i've read the two new mobos from asus that are 780i are ddr2

i'd like to thank you guys for the info

by searching a bit i decided that the p35/x38 are better solutions than the nforce at the moment because the only multi gpu configuration i'd reccomend is two 3850s(512 mb each in order to be sufficient) because it's the only good usable and affordable configuration

two 8800 gt are a nice one but it's about $200 more and it won't be needed by anyone at the time

3dmark06 does not necessarily translate into game performance. If the game does not have the CrossFire profile, then it will not benefit from CrossFire. As a rule of thumb teaming 2 midrange cards is not such a good idea.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

about the crossfire memory problem you shoulg get two 512 mb 3850's and from what i've seen the combination is better for high resolution and the gts i better at aa and opengl

so conclusions if you are an enthusiast who wants a new card every six months i reccomend the gts route but if you're someone who is going to build a new system and get a big screen(24 inch...) who uses high resolutions and want a a good performance and long lasting configuration get the 3850's

Dual card configuration IMO actually does not last as long as you think. All it takes is a somewhat evolutionary architecture change in a new generation chip to give a nice performance boost and you will be wanting a (or a pair of) new card. It is a waste unless you know you are going to get 2 cards all the time. In the long run it is going to cost quite a bit more.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

djmik21 wrote:about the crossfire memory problem you shoulg get two 512 mb 3850's and from what i've seen the combination is better for high resolution and the gts i better at aa and opengl

so conclusions if you are an enthusiast who wants a new card every six months i reccomend the gts route but if you're someone who is going to build a new system and get a big screen(24 inch...) who uses high resolutions and want a a good performance and long lasting configuration get the 3850's

all these if you ca'nt afford to sli two 8800gt 's

Why are you still hung up on the 3DMark scores? Higher 3DMark scores do not translate into real world performance. Going with 2 512MB 3850 still limits you to just 512MB of memory. My question still stands.. why waste money on two so-so cards that will be hit or miss on multi-gpu game support when you can get one good card with consistent game performance?

we all know about the ocz sli-ready memory, the reaper hpc and the reaperx hpc memoory modules... whith which sockets are they compatible?(i' m not sure but i think they're n-force compatiple only)

plz make this a bit more clear

For memory modules, there's only 3 standards that you need to worry about. DDR1, DDR2, and DDR3. Regardless of the brand, if the motherboard has a DDR2 slot, the DDR2 memory will work. Those memory modules you pointed out will work in any motherboard that supports the same type of memory.

Make sure your mobo supports the voltage that the memory is supposed to run at, though. Some people have bought memory that required a high voltage that their motherboard didn't support, and so they were stuck with useless ram or having to use the ram at a slower speed.

The modules you pointed out are ridiculous, anyway. The coolers that are on those modules are pretty much useless. If you're going to be paying $150 for DDR2-800 memory with those extreme heat spreaders, you could just buy DDR2-1066 memory for the same price with less extreme heat spreaders and have a better speeds. Makes sense?

If the ram is rated up to that voltage, your warranty with the module maker will cover it. Almost all DDR2-800 and above ram sticks are outside of the JEDEC standard of 1.9v (I think it's 1.9 volts), so don't worry about that. The EVP/EPP profiles are add ons that allow novices the ability to let Nvidia or the memory makers "overclock" to it's rated capacity. The only way you can destroy a memory module is through overvolting it, so if you keep it at the rated volts, with the rated timings, I wouldn't see a problem. If it's not stable, it may require a .05v or .1v increase, but that's not even much since people do that to overclock their DDR2-800 ram to DDR2-900+.